Design with the Other 90%: CITIES

The second in a series of themed exhibitions by the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum that demonstrate how design can address the world’s most critical issues, "Design with the Other 90%: Cities," opened this past week at the United Nations in New York City. Organized by Cynthia E. Smith, the museum’s curator of socially responsible design, the exhibition features more than 60 projects from 22 countries around the globe and explores design solutions to the challenges created by rapid urban growth in informal settlements (a.k.a. slums). The exhibition is free to the public and runs through Jan. 9, 2012. Here's a glimpse at some of the projects on view, from a "favela painting project" in Rio de Janeiro to Floating Community Lifeboats in Bangladesh, which provide space for solar-powered schools, libraries, clinics and community centers in response to rising waters and extreme density.